Condenser winding machine



Sept. 18, 1945. F. WEISS 2,384,983

CONDENSER WINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 12, 1944 11 Sheets-Sheet l WI N ' ATTOR N EYS Sept. 18, 1945. F. WEISS.

CONDENSER WINDING MACHINE ll Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 12, 1944 INVENTQR 21L); WW

I film 9 P ATTORNEYS Sept. 13, 1945. WEISS CONDENSER WINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 12, 1944 ll Sheets-Sheet 3 Sept. 18, 1945. F. WEISS CONDENSER WINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 12, 1944 ll Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR Y flu/1J4,

awn/ M ATTORNEYS Sept. 18, 1945. F. WEISS CONDENSER WINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 12, 1944 ll SheetsSheet 5 Sept. 18, 1945. F. WEISS 2,384,983

CONDENSER WINDING MACHINE- Filed Sept. 12, 1944 ll Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR Wm; WM (Sew/1d BM PM ATTO R N EYS Sept. 18, 1945. F. WEISS 2,384,933

CONDENSER WINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 12, 1944 ll Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTOR BY mgpw ATTORNEYS Sept. 18, 1945. F. WEISS CONDENSER WINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 12, 1944 11 Sheets-Sheet 8 Sept. 18, 1945. F. WEISS CONDENSER WINDING MACHINE.

Filed Sept. 12, 1944 ll Sheets-Sheet 9 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Sept. 1%, 1945). w ss 2,384,983

CONDENSER WINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 12, 1944 11 Sheets-Sheet 10 INVENTOR ATTORN EYS Sept. 18, 1945. F. WEISS 2,384,933

CONDENSER WINDING MACHINE Filed Sept. 12, 1944 11 Sheets-Sheet 11 4 Fyffi 55a 13"T 2g1 IN V EN TOR. fi/IX Whim- W flaw/w 9 /6! Patented Sept. 18, 1945 CONDENSER WINDING MACHINE Felix Weiss, Brookline, Mass., assignor to Cornell- Dubilier Electric Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Application September 12, 1944, Serial No. 553,773

38 Claims.

This invention relates to machines for making electrical condenser rolls. 'An object is to provide a machine which is capable of automatically feeding foil andpaper into the machine, cutting the foil, creating a space between the foil ends and cutting the paper therebetween, automatically sealing. and completing the roll-up of the strips, disengaging the mandrel and ejecting the completed condenser in a continuous succession of operations without interruption of the machine.

A related object is to provide a high rate of production while maintaining good precision of the condenser rolls and incurring a low rate of spoiling and breakage of material.

In carrying out the invention a device is provided whereby foil and paper are fed on to a mandrel and wound into rolls at one station, the foil being cut under tension after a predetermined number of turns at the time that the foil and paper are retarded by gripping the feed rollers, and the paper is thereafter out between the separated ends of the foil upon the mandrel being carried around to a section station where the condenser is sealed and completed. The mandrel is thereafter moved to successive stations where the mandrel is removed and the completed condenser ejected, all in one continuous operation with the respective operations being performed on different condenser rolls at all of the stations at the same time, and is automatically repeated and continued uninterruptedly and without any manual handling of the condensers.

One way to perform the invention is described in the following detailed description and shown in the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. 1 shows a plan view of the machine;

Fig. 1a shows a mandrel pin latching detail at line Ia--la of Fig. 1;

Fig. 1b is a perspective view of a lever detail shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 1c shows a detail of a clutch operating mechanism partially shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 1d is a perspective view of a pivoted dog forming part of the mandrel indexing mechanism,

Fig. 2 shows a front elevation of the machine;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation in section of a part of the machine taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a front elevation of a detail taken along line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4a is a top view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevation taken alon line 55 of Fig. l;

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation taken at line 66 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a rear elevation in section of a part of the machine taken along line 'I-l of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7a is a perspective view of a detail shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of part of the mechanism shown in Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is an elevation in section of the part of the machine taken along line 9-9 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 10 is a detail looking through line iii-Ill of Fig. 1;

Fig. 10a is a sectional view taken at line Illa-Illa of Fig. 10;

Fig. 10b is a sectional view taken at line IOb-llib of Fi 10a;

Fig. 11 is a wiring diagram showing the electrical switching and solenoid apparatus for operating a clutch shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged view partially in section oi. a mandrel and mandrel pin used in the machine;

Fig. 13 is an enlarged view showing the position of the condenser strips and cutting and spiksuch as paper.

ing mechanism during one of the positions of operation;

Fig. 14 illustrates the superimposed condenser strips leading to the condenser roll;

Fig. 15 illustrates a detail of an alternative modification; and

Figs. 16 to 22, inclusive, are operational diagrams illustrating a sequence of operation performed by the machine.

C'oil winding mechanism Mounted on a frame I 0, which supports the various parts, is a vertical panel H (see Fig. 2) which supports six pins I2 to l1, inclusive, carrying reels I 2' to ll, respectively, which support rolls of metal foil and insulating material Compression spider springs 18a, 19a, 20a, 2Ia, 22a and 23a are placed between the hubs of the rolls and respective collars l8b, I91), 20b, 2), 22b and 23!), for the purpose of applying a moderate amount of retardation against rotation of the rolls. Rolls l8, I9, 20 and 2| are rolls of paper or insulating strip and rolls 22 and 23 are of foil strip. At the front end of frame 10 there is journaled a shaft 24 (Figs. 1 to 3) to which is fixed a" rotatable mandrel support in the form of a head 25 comprising four radial arms 26, 21, 28 and 29 and a rim 30. The four arms respectively carry four hubs 26a, 21a, 28a and 29a through which are journaled respective rotatable bushings 3!, 32, 33 and 34 into which are fastened mandrels 35, 36, 31 and 38, respectively, by means of set screws; the conducting and insulating strips 3H), 3H, 3I2, 3I3, 3|4 and 3I5 from the insulating and conducting strip rolls being wound up on these mandrels. 'Ihese' y, mandrels are constructed as part-mandrels each being really half a, mandrel in the form of a half cylinder having a fiat surface through the longitudinal axis, which is adapted to cooperate with a similar fiat surface of a cooperating part-mandrel, or pin, to hold the condenser strips therebetween. At the back end of each bushing, behind the head, there is formed a collar 39 provided with a driving pin 40.

For driving the mandrels there is provided a shaft 4| (Fig. '7) power driven from a belt Ma and having fastened to it a pulley 42 which is belted to a pulley 43 fastened to a clutch member 44, the pulley and clutch member being free to rotate on a shaft 45 which is journaled in the frame I (Figs. 1 and '1). Another clutch member 46 is I splined on shaft 45, and movable endwise along the splines. For the purpose of engaging the two clutch members there is provided a fork 41 placed within a groove 41a of the clutch member 46 (Figs. '7 and 8), and the fork has fixed to it a rod 48 protruding through a head 49 fixed on the frame I0. A bell crank 50 is pivoted to the frame at so that when the arm 52 of the bell crank is rotated clockwise (with reference to Fig. 8) its other arm 53 pushes against rod 48 to move the clutch member 46 into engagement with member 44, thereby causing shaft 45 to rotate.

There is journaled to the vertical wall of frame ID a shaft 54 having fixed at its rear end a bevel gear 55 which engages with a bevel gear 56 fixed to the front end of shaft 45. At the opposite end of shaft 54 is a collar 51 with a driving pin 58 adapted to engage the pin 40 of whichever mandrel bushing collar 39 is placed in driving rela-- tion with pin 58.

The mandrel head 25 is rotatable counterclockwise (with reference to Fig. 2) in four successive steps of 90 each, during a full revolution, so that each mandrel is held for a time at each one of four successive stations A, B, C and D, spaced 90 apart, during a complete revolution of the head. During each successive one of these four steps, the next succeeding of the four mandrels is placed in driving relation with shaft 54.

Mandrel indexing mechanism The 90 indexing movements of the indexing head 25 are carried out by the following mechanism: There is fastened to the power shaft 4| a sprocket 59 which drives by means of a sprocket chain 60 a sprocket 6| fastened to a, shaft 62 (Figs. 1, '1 and 9). There is fastened to sprocket 6| a spur gear 63 which drives another spur gear 64 fastened to a shaft 65. Also fastened to shaft 65 is a worm 66 which drives a worm wheel 61 which is loosely rotatable On a shaft 68 (Fig. 9). On the hub of worm wheel 61 is fastened a clutch plate 69 containing internal teeth (Figs. 1 and 1c). There is fastened on shaft 68 a gear 1| having mounted on its hub a pivot 12 on which is pivoted a dog 13 having a projection 14 adapted to engage the internal teeth 10 whenever the dog is released to make the engagement. The dog. is normally held in engagement with the teeth by means of a spring 15. On top of the dog is a boss 16 having a bevel 16a (Fig. 1d) leading up to a lug 16b adapted to be engaged by an arm 11 attached to the plunger 19 of a solenoid 80. IA compression spring 8| (Fig. 11) holds the arm in its position in the path of boss 16 so that when the boss moves under the arm 11, the bevel 16a travels under the lower edge of this arm to depress the dog and disengage its clutch teeth. When the lug 16bengagcs the side of arm 11 the dog and its gear 1| stop rotating. When solenoid is energized, however, the arm is pulled out of engagement with the dog, thereby permitting the dog to rotate under action of spring 15 to engage the clutch teeth.

Also mounted on shaft 68 is a Geneva arm 82 having a pin 83 adapted to engage with the radially extending Geneva slots 84 of a Geneva plate 85 which is fixed to the indexing shaft 24 to which the indexing head 25 is attached. The Geneva plate is provided with four arcuate hubs 86, one being located between each adjacent pair of slots: and the radius of curvature of each of these hubs is equal to the radius of the circular portion of the hub 81, so that when the indexing head 25 is indexed in any one of the four stations, hub 81 engages the corresponding one of the four hubs 86 to lock shaft 24 against rotation. The circular hub 81 of arm 82 is provided with an arcuate cut-out 81a to provide clearance for the extremities 86a of the hros 86 when the Geneva arm is rotated to rotate the Geneva plate.

Fixed to shaft 68 is a sprocket wheel 88 which drives a sprocket wheel 89, fixed to a shaft 90, by chain 9|, the gear ratio being one-to-one so that there is one revolution of shaft 90 for each revolution of shaft 68. Fastened on shaft 90 is an eccentric 92 on which rides a roller 93 journaled on the end of bell crank arm 52 (Fig. 8). The eccentric 92 is so related to the Geneva arm that the eccentric turns the bell crank to engage the clutch member 46 with clutch member 44 just after the Geneva pin 83 has swept through the Geneva slot to complete the 90 indexing movement of the head 25.

Turns counting mechanism For determining the number of turns of paper and foil strip to be wound on the mandrels for each condenser roll, there is provided a turns counting mechanism (Figs. 1, 5, 6 and 7). This comprises a half nut 94 slidably pivoted at one side thereof on a rod 95 and engaging the threaded shaft 45 so that when the clutch members 45 and 44 become engaged to roll up the con-denser the nut travels to the left (with reference to Fig, '1) until it strikes a stop 96 adjustably fastened to a slidable bar 91 by a set screw 96a. There is fastened near the end of bar 91 a dog 98 and a compression spring 99, so that when the stop is pushed by the half-nut, bar 91 is moved endwise against the compression of the spring, and the dog rotates a bellcrank I00, pivoted at IOI, against the force of a helical spring I02, thus lifting a catch I03 on the bellcrank from engagement with a head I04 which is fixed to rod 95. The other end of rod 95 is attached to the clutch fork 41. When the catch I03 is lifted from head m the latter springs to the left (with refhalf-nut out of engagement with the threads on shaft 45 by pivoting th half-nut on bar 96 and permitting the half-nut to slide rapidly home to its initial position where it drops off the right end of bar I06 (Fig. 7) and on the screw shaft ,45', by the action of hairpin spring II3 which is attached at one end to the half-nut and at the other end to the frame. A bolt H4 is mounted on the half-nut and a switch I5 having an operating knob II5a is fastened to the frame so that when the nut reaches home the bolt II4 pushes the switch knob which closes switch contacts I I51; and N50 to close the circuit through solenoid 80 as long as the nut is home (see wiring diagram, Fig. 11). This pulls arm 11 out of engagement with boss 16. thereby causing dog 13 to engage with clutch teeth 10.

Foil strip severing mechanism To sever the foil and paper. strips during the indexing operation after each mandrel winding, there is provided the following mechanism: There is mounted on a bar II6 (Figs. 6 and 7) a member II1 which has a slot II8 containing a pin II9 on which is pivoted a beveled cam I20. The position of member II1 on bar H6 is adjustable, and the member is fastened in position by a set screw II1a. Bar H8 is part of a frame I2I which is pivoted at I22 and I23 to the main frame I0. The arrangement is such that shortly before the half-nut traveling along shaft 45 strikes stop 96, a camming member I24 mounted on the half-nut engages the pivoted cam I20, moving it against a stop I25, and thereby lifting bar II6 while the nut passes by; after which the bar drops down again on its support I26 (Fig. 5). When the nut returns home it simply kicks "the freely pivoted cam I in the opposite direction without lifting the bar. Frame I2I has an arm I21 (Fig. 5) which engages the rear end of a latch lever I28 which is pivoted at I29 (Fig. 10), so that when bar H6 is lifted arm I21 is depressed, pivoting the latch to'disengage its end I30 from the shoulder I3I of a collar I32 which is fastened to a shaft I33. Shaft I33 is journaled in a cradle or cutter box I5I (Figs. 10, 10a and 10b) mounted on a pin I52 which is held on an arm 152a which in turn is attached to a pin I52b fastened to the frame. Set screws holding the arm I52a to the pins I52 and I52b provide for adjustment of the position of the cradle. Shaft I33 is torque-tensioned by means of a rack I34 slidable in a slide I35 and in engagement with a pinion I36 freely rotatable on shaft I33. Pinion I36 has fastened to it an arm I31 having pivoted on it at I31a a pawl I31b which engages a shoulder I38 on a collar I32 which is fixed to shaft I33. Rack I34 is moved against the tension of a spring I39 by an arm I40 of a bellcrank pivoted at Hi, the other arm I42 of which is engaged by the mandrel hubs (Fig. 4) so that at every indexing operation the rack is thus pushed to the left (Fig. 10) which rotates pinion I36 and pawl I311) clockwise until the pawl engages shoulder I38. Under this condition spring I39 is in tension. Then when end I30 of latch I28 is disengaged from shoulder I 3|, shaft I33 rotates one revolution counterclockwise under the influence of the rack spring until the collar shoulder I3I is again engaged by the latch I30 which in the meantime has dropped again. Shaft I33 has attached to it a knife I43 which operates to cut the foil strip 310 passing under it. Another similar knife I44 attached to a shaft I45 which is geared to shaft I33 by pinions I46 and I41, meshed through an idler pinion I41a, operates at the same time to out the other foil strip.

To prevent backlash during the tensioning of the rack spring there is attached to shaft I33 a collar I48 having a shoulder I48 engageable by a backlash pawl I50.

The cradle is provided with a number of transverse pins I53 at the rear end and I63 at the forward end and guides I53a between which the condenser strips pass in going from the rolls to the mandrel, as shown in Fig. 10b; and the cutting knives are adapted to rotate within arcuate cut-outs I531) of the guides. To prevent the insulating strips from being cut, they are led through guide spaces out of reach of the knives, as shown.

Up to the point where the strips reach the parting guides I53a each foil strip is held and supported between insulating strips so that the relatively weak foils will not wrinkle or become injured during the feeding operation; and after passing the forward ends of guides I53a the foils again become supported when they are brought together between the insulating strips at the forward pins I63.

Insulating strip severing and pasting mechanism There are mounted on the frame a pair of rigid beams I54 and I56 spaced-somewhat apart and having extended between them a pair of pins I56 and I51 (Figs. 4 and 4a). Pivoted on pin I56 are a pair of uprights I58 and I58 which have extending between their upper ends a, pin I60. Pivoted on pin I51 is an upright member I6I, the upper end of which is fastened by a set screw I6Ia, for adjustment, to a pin I62 which extends between a pair of spaced bars I63 and I64. These two bars I53 and I64 are pivoted on pin I at a position forward of pin I62; and the front ends of these two bars carry pin I65 on which is freely rotatable a grooved roller I66.

There is rigidly fastened to bars I58 and I58 a rigid bar I61 having attached beneath it a spring knife I68. An adjusting screw I69 threaded through bar I81 serves to position the knife. One or more needles I10 projects forwardly from bar I61.

Fastened to member I59 is an arm I12 having at its front end a pin I13 on which is a freely rotatable roller I14. Also mounted on the pin I13 is the upper end of a lever I15 which is pivoted at its lower end to the frame at I16. Roller I14 is continuously urged, by means of a spring I18, into contact with a cam I11 fastened to the indexing head so that when the indexing head is indexed in any one of its four indexing positions the roller I14 enters the corresponding one of four indents I19 of the cam I11.

A- container of paste I is mounted on a stand I 8I and the ends of the container are slotted at I 82 to receive pins I83 at the ends of a roll I84 adapted to rotate in the paste to smear the paste over the surface of the roll. The rear pin of the roll has mounted on it a pulley I85 which is belted to a pulley I86 fastened near the front end of a shaft I81. Shaft I81 is journaled on the frame and driven from shaft 68 by a train of gears, I88, I and I8I, gears H and I9I being fixed respectively to shafts 68 and I61, and gears I88 and I80 being idlers (Figs. 1 and 9).

Whenever the indexing head with its cam H1 is rotated through one of its 90 indexing movements, the roller I14 rides out of the indent on shaft 24 (Figs. 1 and 3).

the surface of the cam, thereby rotating uprights I50 and I59 counterclockwise (with reference to Fig. 4) and correspondingly rotating upright I6I. Since the length of upright I6I is greater than that of I58 and I59, the effect of this rotation is to move arms I63 and I64 to bring the roller I 66 into contact with the paste roll I84, as shown in dotted lines, to smear paste on roller I66. Then when roller I14 drops into the next indent I19, corresponding to the next indexing position, roller I66 springs back again to its normal position with its grooves in engagement with curved wiper wires 221 which are fixed to the frame at 221a, and smearing the paste on the rolled condenser which has just moved down from the winding station A to station B where the roll is in engagement with the wipers 221.

When the roller I1-4 drops into the indent I19 in station B, the needles I10 spike the insulating strips which now extend from across the mandrel in winding station A to the roll in station B; and an instant later the knife I68 severs them.

Condenser roll-up and ejecting mechanism Mounted on the frame I at some distance in front of the indexing head is a fixed bearing I92 through which is journaled the indexing Shaft 24 has attached to it a pair of supports I93 and I94, support I93 having four radial arms I95, and shaft I94 having four similar radial arms I95a. Journaled through the corresponding arms I95 and I95a are four barrel shafts I96, I91, I98 and I99 having fastened to their respective ends the four mandrel pins 35a, 36a, 31a and 38a, which are constructed as part-mandrels having flat surfaces and adapted to cooperate respectively with part-- mandrels 35, 36, 31 and 38. These mandrel pin shafts are aligned with respect to the corresponding half-mandrels extending from the indexing head so that the fiat surfaces of the cooperating half-mandrel pins face the corresponding fiat 7 surfaces of the half-mandrels (Figs. 12 and 13) when the two are brought together. The barrel shafts are slidable endwise through bushings in their supporting arms so that the disengagable part-mandrels, or pins, may be engaged and disengaged endwise of the related part-mandrels.

On each arm of support I94 is a pivoted latch 200, which is urged in its latching direction by a leaf spring MI, and each mandrel pin shaft has fixed on it a shoulder 202, the arrangement being such that when a barrel shaft is slid endwise to the extreme right (with reference to Fig. 3) it is held in that position by the latch 200 engaging the shoulder 202 until the latch is released in the winding station A by its knob 203 coming into engagement with a cam 204 fixed under the top of an arch 205 which is fastened to the frame (Fig. 1a).

In front of support I94 there is fastened to the shaft 24 another support 206 having four radial arms 201, each of these radial arms having a slot 208. There are placed across the slot a pair of pins 209 and 2I0 on which are freely rotatable pulleys 2H and 2I2, respectively. Spaced somewhat from support 206 and also fixed to shaft 24 is a head 2I3. There is passed over each pulley a spring 2I4 one end of which is fastened to the head 2I3 at 2I5, and the other. end of which is fastened to a collar '2I6 freely mounted on the corresponding barrel shaft I96 and held against a shoulder 2 I1 in the shaft. The springs 2I4 are maintained in tension so that when the latch 200 releases shoulder 202 at station A, the mandrel pin slides into engagement with the mandrel (with the condenser strips between the half-mandrel and pin) and enters recess 216 at the fro. of the mandrel (Fig. 12); and at the same time recess 211 at the end of the barrel shaft receives the end of the mandrel. Thisplaces the mandrel in readiness to roll a condenser.

To insure that when a mandrel goes from station D to station A, the fiat surface of the half mandrel shall face up to receive the condenser strips, there is fixed to the frame behind the mandrel support a cam 236 having a cam groove 236a which receives pins 40 on the mandrel bushings to hold the bushing at the proper angle of rotation to bring the fiat mandrel face up in, position A (Figs. 1, 3 and 10). This cam has another groove 23Gb through which pin 40 travels while the mandrel is moving from station A to station B, to keep the wound mandrel from unwinding during this movement.

To insure that the flat surface of the mandrel pin shall always face the fiat surface of the mandrel when latch 200 is released at station A, there are provided correlating shafts 282, 283. 284 and 285 journaled inthe arms of supporting members I93 and I94 and of a supporting memher 286, and parallel with four mandrels and the four barrel shafts I96, I91, I98 and I99, respectively. Each correlating shaft is geared to the respectivemandrel by pinions 281 and 288 fastened to the respective mandrel and correlating shaft; and to the respective barrel shaft by fluted gear 289 and pinion 290 fastened respectively to the correlating andbarrelshafts. This arrangement is such that the pinion 290 slides along the fluted gear when the barrel shaft slides; and this gearing maintains the flat face of the mandrel pin always toward the fiat face of the mandrel.

To roll up the loose strip ends, or flag, left trailing from a roll on a'mandrel at station B after the severing of the insulating strips the shaft I81 carries at its front end a driving pin 2l8 adapted to engage the pin 40 on the mandrel bushing of that mandrel. Rotation of shaft I81 thus operates to continue the rotation of the mandrel after it is indexed in the B station with the paste already applied to the strips, and thus wind up the loose ends or flag" to paste it in position. The gearing of shaft I81 is so arranged that shaft I81 stops its wind up rotation to leave the pin 40 above the mandrel shaft (substantially as shown in Fig. 10) so that when the rolled mandrel finally moves from stations D to A the pin will be following the mandrel shaft as the pin travels within groove 236a. This insures that the fiat part of the mandrel will face up as the mandrel enters station A.

After the next subsequent indexing movement, the condenser winding which has just had its flag wound and pasted is carried down to the lowermost station 0, and in thus traveling downward rubs against the wiper wires 221, which prevents any unwinding of the condenser during this downward movement.

The rim of the indexing head is provided with four radially extending pins 2I9 located adjacent the respective mandrels. Each time the head is indexed, the pin 2I9 corresponding to the mandrel in station C, strikes an arm 220 fixed to a shaft 22I which is journaled in the frame and slidable endwise (Figs. 3 and 4). The rear end of shaft 22I has fixed to it a compound halfnut 222 having two sets of internal threads 223 and 224 (Figs. 7 and 7a). Two threaded lead screws 225 and 226, also iournaled in the frame in parallel relation to the shaft 22I, are located adjacent the respective half-nut portions 223 and 224. and the two lead screws are geared together by the spur gears 2H and 212 which are fastened respectively to shafts 225 and 226. The lead screws are driven from shaft 65 bybevel gear 213 on shaft 65 in engagement with bevel gear 214 on shaft 226. The arrangement is such that when shaft 22! is rotated a few degrees in one direction the half-nut portion 223 engages the lead screw 225, and when shaft 221 is rotated in the opposite direction the half-nut portion 224 engages the other lead screw 226. The right end of shaft 22l (with reference to Fig. 3) has fixed to it a bell crank 228, the horizontal leg 229 of which is weighted to hold shaft MI in its most clockwise position of rotation (with reference to Fig. 7), thus keeping half-nut 222 in engagement with lead screw 225. head screw 225 has at its rear end an unthreaded portion 225a. and the threads of the threaded portion are cut in the direction which causes the halfnut, when engaged therewith, to move to or remain at the unthreaded end 225a, thus keeping shaft 22l in its leftmost endwise position (with reference to Fig. 3). But when pin 2l9 on the indexing head strikes arm 228 the shaft 221 is rotated until the half-nut portion 224 strikes the other lead screw 226-. This has its threads cut to feed the half-nut in the opposite direction, causing'shaft 221 to slide to the right (with reference to Fig. 3). A pin 238 fixed on arm 229 rides along a platform 23! which is fastened to the frame, thus keeping the half-nut in engagement with lead screw 226 until the pin drops off the right end of the platform, as shown in Fig. 3.

When the half-nut first engages the forward lead screw 226, in the rearmost position of the half-nut, the vertical arm of bellcrank 228 engages the shoulder 232 on the sliding barrel shaft which is in station C. Then when shaft 22I slides to the right it also slides the barrel shaft to the right against the tension of springs 2 until the barrel shaft latches at its shoulder 282, thus leaving the roll 288 on the fixed half mandrel. To keep the condenserroll from being pulled off the fixed half-mandrel when the sliding half-mandrel pin is extracted, an arm 488 fixed to the frame is positioned to obstruct any movement of the condenser roll in an endwise direction. Pin 238 then drops off the right end of platform 23l (with reference to Fig. 3) on to subplatform 231a so that the weighted arm 229 rotates shaft 221 back to its normal position, engaging the half-nut portion 223 with the return lead screw 225 which slides the shaft 22l to the left until the half-nut runs off the threads in the initial position again. In thus sliding to the left pin 238 slides along sub-platform 23la and continues to rest on it when back in the initial position.

When a wound roll left on a half-mandrel reaches station D, it is removed from the halfmandrel by means of an arm 235 fixed to shaft 221. This arm is of sprirlgy metal and is normally in the full line position of Fig. 4. But when a mandrel moves from station C to station D the mandrel engages the arm 235 at a place just back of the rolled condenser and springs out the arm to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. Then when shaft 221 is rotated to engage the half-nut with the forward lead screw,

the upper end of this arm 235 moves along the mandrel behind the condenser, thus pushing the rolled condenser of! the half-mandrel. After the condenser is ejected the arm 235 springs back to its original full line position.

Strip advancing mechanism For the purpose of providing a positive feed of the foil and paper strips to the driven mandrel, at the beginning of a winding, there are provided feed rollers 29! and 292 (Figs. 1. 2 and 5) between which the condenser strips are passed.

Roller 291 is an idler and roller 292 is connected with a telescoped shaft 231 through a universal joint 238, the other end of the shaft being joined through another universal joint 239 to a pinion shaft-248 having fixed to it a pinion 241. Pinion 241 is driven from pinion 242 which in turn is driven from a pinion 243 fixed to the end of the indexing shaft 24. Roller 292 is rotatable on a pin 243 which is fixed in a frame 244 and is movable upward to a binding position against roller 291 by means of a pin 245 protruding from the main frame l8 on which frame 244 pivots. The opposite end of frame 244 is weighted by a weight 246 which tends to keep the roller in binding position.

The roller is operated into and out of binding position by the following mechanism (Figs. 1, 2 and 5). A cam arm 241 having a bevel 248 is fixed to the clutch fork 41. There is pivoted to the frame at 249 an arm 258 (Fig. 1b) which carries on it a pin :51 on which is m en rotatable a bell crank 252, one arm 253 of wh ch is beveled at 254 and the other arm 255 of which is adapted to engage a stop 256 fixed to lever 258. A tension spring 251 attached at one end to the bell crank arm 252 and at the other end to a pin 258 fixed on lever 258, tends to keep the bell crank turned against stop 256. Lever 258 has fastened to it an arm 259 to the other end of which is fastened a knob 268. Opposite the knob 268 is a bell crank 261 (Fig. 5) pivoted to the frame at 262 having a pair of shoulders 263 and 264 positioned to engage the front end of lever 244. A tension spring 265 fastened to arm 259 tends to keep arms 258 and 259 rotated counterclockwise (with reference to Fig. 1) on pivot 249 to keep knob 268 withdrawn from bell crank 261. The organization is such that when the clutch member 46 disengages from clutch member 44, cam 241 in moving by cam 254 of bell crank 253, pushes bell crank 253 against pin 256, thus rotating arm 259 clockwise (with reference to Fig. 1) on pivot 249 and consequently rotating bell crank 26l so that lever 244 is released from the lower shoulder 264. This causes frame 244 to rotate under force of weight 246 until it strikes the upper shoulder 263, thereby causing the roller 292 to be brought up to binding relation against the strips held between rollers 2! and 292. In this position, rotation of drive shaft 231 by means of shaft 24 drives the roller 292 to feed the strips toward the mandrel.

When clutch member 46 move to re-engage with clutch member 44, cam 241 merely rotates bell crank 252 counterclockwise (Fig. 1) against the force of spring 251 without affecting arm 259 or bell crank 26l For the purpose of releasing feed roller 292 from its binding engagement of the condenser strips against roller 29! after the first couple of turns of the mandrel winding, there is provided a release. This comprises (referring to Figs. 1, 5 and 6) a shaft 295 rotatably Journaled in the frame, to which is attached an arm 296, carrying a camming projection 291. The half nut 94 has mounted on it a corresponding camming projection 298 adapted to engage cam 29'! so that after the half nut travels along the screw shaft 45 a distance corresponding to a small number of mandrel turns, cam 298 lifts up cam 291 and thus rotates shaft 295 counterclockwise (Fig. 6)

while the half nut is passing, after which shaft 295 rotates back to its original position. There is fastened to shaft 295 an arm 299 carrying a pivot pin 300 on which is pivoted an arm 30I. The upper end of arm 30I contains a pin 302 (Fig. on which is pivoted a lever arm 303 having its fulcrum on a pivot pin 304 attached to a bracket 305 which is fastened to the frame. The opposite end of lever 303 carries a pin 306 on which is pivoted an arm 30! depending down to a pin 308 attached to the frame 244 of roller 292 (Figs. 2 and 5), so that every time shaft 295 is rocked by the traveling half nut, the frame 244 is rotated a few degrees counterclockwise on pin 245 (with reference to Fig. 2) which moves the forward end of frame 244 from shoulder-263 down to the lower shoulder 264 on bell crank 26 I, thereby holding feed roller 292 disengaged from the condenser strips.

Operation Before starting the machine the foil and insulating strips are led between the feed rollers 29I and 292 and pulled over the half mandrel in station A while holding the mandrel pin retracted, the foil strips 3I0 and 3 being led through the guides of the foil cutter which take them in the path of the foil cutters, and the insulating strips 3I2, 3I3, 3 and 3I5 through the guides which avoid the foil cutters. According to usual condenser winding practice, all four insulating strips overlie each other. Furthermore, one edge of one foil strip 3I0 may, if desired, be placed beyond one side of the insulating strips and the opposite edge of the other foil strip 3 may be placed beyond the other side of the insulating strips, the remaining foil edges being sandwiched within the insulating strips, as shown in Fig. 14.

To start the machine, the power driven shaft is rotated by turning on its source of power, and the circuit of solenoid 80 is established by closing switch 3I6 connecting it with the electrical power wires 3I8 and 3I9 (Fig. 11). As the half nut 94 will be at rest in its home position, switch H5 will be closed, producing energization of solenoid 80. This will engage dog 13 with clutch teeth to produce a revolution of shaft 68, during anearly part of which Geneva pin 83 sweeps through a Geneva slot 84 (Fig. 9) to produce a 90 indexing rotation of shaft 24 bearing mandrel head 25. Also, during this indexing movement the mandrel hub on head 25, which moves from station C to station D strikes bellcrank arm I42 to pull rack I34 to the left (Fig. 10) thus tensioning it by the engagement of arm I30 against shoulder I3I. Immediately upon completion of the 90 indexing rotation of shaft 24, catch 200 (Figs. 1a an 3) is operated by fixed cam 204 to allow the barrel shaft I96 to spring toward the mandrel which has just moved from station D to station A, to slide the half mandrel pin over the condenser strips which lie across the half mandrel.

Just after the completion of the indexing movement, which occurs during an early part of the revolution of shaft 68, bell crank 50 is rotated by cam 92 to engage clutch member 46 with 44 (Figs. 8 and 9) and thus start the mandrel in station A rotating and the half-nut 94 traveling along screw 45. This causes the contacts of switch H5 to open and deenergize the solenoid 80, allowing spring 8| to urge arm 'Il into the path of lug 16 on dog I3 (Fig. 1c). Shortly thereafter lug 16 engages arun 11, thus disengaging the dog from clutch teeth I0 and stopping the rotation of shaft 68 which has now completed its one revolution.

The rotation of the mandrel rolls up the strips pulling them from their respective supply rolls against the retarding effect of the compression springs pushing against the hubs of the supply rolls. When the mandrel winding is almost completed, the cam I24 on the half nut (Figs. 6 and 7) strikes cam I20, lifting bar II6 ofl' support I26 to pivot latch I28 away from shoulder I3I of collar I32 (Fig. 10). This allows rack I34 to spring endwise to rotate the knife shafts I33 and I45 to sever the foils while they are traveling toward the mandrel. After this severance the foil rolls cease to feed any more foil strip to the mandrel and only the insulating strips continue to feed, so that a space opens up between the severed foil ends. Then, after a desired space of, for example. a few inches has opened up between the severed foil ends, the traveling halfnut strikes stop 96, sliding bar 91 to the left (Fig. 7) and releasing catch I03 from engagement with head I 04. This allows head I04 to spring to the left (Fig. 7) and disengage clutch member 46 from 44 to stop the mandrel winding, and at the same time to allow lbar I06 to rise and thus lift the half nut off screw 45; and the half nut then immediately springs back to its initial home position. The disengaging movement of clutch member 46 and its fork 41 causes cam 24! to rotate lever 259 which rotates bell crank 26I to disengage shoulder 264 from feed roller frame 244 (Fig. 5), and thus allow roller 292 to bind the strips against ro1ler29l in preparation for the next indexing movement and condenser winding.

When the half nut reaches home its knob II4 closes the switch I I5 which energizes the solenoid to engage the dog 13 with the internal teeth 10 of the one-revolution clutch. This rotates the in dexing head through another degrees, advancing the condenser just rolled to station B and pulling the insulating strips across the flat surface of the half mandrel which is moving up from station D into station A, as shown in Fig. 10. Just as soon as the mandrel now to be wound reaches station A, the catch 200 holding shoulder 202 engages cam 204, which releases the catch and causes the half mandrel pin to slide over the condenser strips across the half-mandrel, as shown in Fig. 4. The position of the foil knives is such that when the mandrel i thus set for winding, the leading edges of the foils from the foil rolls just extend through the mandrel, as shown in Fig. 13.

During the revolution of shaft 24 the feed roller 292 which is still binding the strips against roller 29I, is rotated by shaft 231 and gears 2, 242

2,se 4,oss

ment, roller I14 (Fig. 4) is pushed out of the indent I19 in which it had been resting, on to the outer periphery of cam I11 to retract the knife I68 from the p th of the wound condenser moving to station 13; and just as it-reaches station B, at the end of the indexing movement, roller I14 drops into the next indent I19, causing needles I10 to spike the insulating sheets at the area unoccupied by the foil sheets, and causing knife I68 an instant later to sever the insulating sheet at a place between the foil ends, but below the spot where the pin I10 has just spiked the strips to keep them in place after the severing; This is illustrated in Fig. 13.

Simultaneously with this severing operation, roller I68 (Fig. 4) which had been brought into contact with the paste roll I84 while.roller I14 was on the outer periphery of cam I11, is brought into contact with the condenser roll at station B, which immediately upon reaching station B, begins to turn to roll up and paste the flag" due to the engagementof driving pin 2I8 with pin 40 of the mandrel in this position. The mandrel :ontinues to be rotated for a number of turns in ';hiS manner because shaft I81 which is driving it :ontinues to be driven from shaft 68 through train of gears I89, I90 and IQI until dog 13 disengages from clutch teeth 10; and since it takes only about 90 degrees of a revolution of shaft 68 to complete the indexing movement, there remains about 270 degrees for it to continue to drive shaft I81 after the indexing is completed and while the mandrel at station A is being wound. As the roll at station E is in contact with the springy wiper wires 221 at station B, these wires cause the flag to roll up tightly.

Just before the end of a full rotation of shaft 68, eccentric 92 on shaft 90 operates bell crank 50 to engage clutch member 46 with 44 again, and simultaneously to shift bar 95 and head 94 to the right (with reference to Fig. 7) so that the lower surface of head I04 slides over bevel III and thereby depresses bar I06 so that the half nut in engagement with the screw shaft 45 can travel to the left upon engagement of theclutchmembers without being obstructed by bar I06.

Aftertraveling for a couple of screw turns along shaft 45 and before the loop of the condenser strips left hanging between the feed rollers and the foil cutter has been taken up by the windin mandrel, the cam 298 of the half nut strikes I cam 291 (Fig. 6), which moves feed roller 292 from its binding position to its free position by rotating the feed roller frame 244 to engage it under shoulder 264 (Fig. 5), so that the strips are pulled freely by the mandrel. half nut slides home after disengagement of the clutch members, cam 298 does not engage cam 291 as it did in traveling out because when sliding home the left side of the half nut (Fig. 6) is raised by bar I06 so that cam 29s is above cam 291, and the slot 298 permits clearance for 291.)

The strips are then severed and the mandrel winding stopped and another indexing movement made in the manner just described.

As each mandrel bearing a rolled condenser reaches station C, the mandrel pin is Withdrawn from it by the engagement of bell crank 228 with the shoulder 232 of barrel shaft I98, and the moving to the right of this bell crank (Fig. 3) due to the engagement of half-nut portion 224 with forward lead screw 226 which is driven during the revolution of shaft 68 through gears 61, 66, 213, 214, 212 and 21I (Fig. 9). During this operation the condenser is held on the half man- (When the drel by bar 400. After shaft 22I slides all the way to the right, thus causing the barrel shaft to become latched by catch 200, pin 230 drops of! the end of platform 23I, causing the other half nut portion 223 to engage with the return lead screw 225 so that shaft 22I slides back home again. The gear ratios and le8d screws are so correlated that shaft 22I completes its outward and return sliding movement by the time the driving shaft 68 has completed its single revolution.

The same forward sliding movement of shaft 22I causes its other wiper arm 235 to slide each condenser off the half mandrel at station D, dropping it into a suitable chute 350 and leaving the mandrel ready for another winding when it reaches station A again.

It will be noted that the foil and paper are wound, separately cut, sealed and ejected in a continuous operation with the successive steps being automatically and progressively performed. Referring to Fig.- 22 condenser a is being elected from the mandrel at station D while a retracting arm is retracting a mandrel pin from condenser b in station C at the same time that condenser c is being rolled up and pasted at station B and condenser d which is connected to the drive is being wound at station A.

The mandrel upon. which a condenser is being wound at station A is stopped after a predetermined number of turns and the foil cut. The feed rollers grip the conducting and insulating strips at a point behind the foil cutting knives during the automatic indexing movement of the mandrel support from station to station. The insulating strips of a. condenser which is traveling from station A to station B during the indexing movement are spiked by the needles on the cutting arm so that the insulatin strips are held in alinement. An instant later the cutting knife cuts the insulating strips, so that at the time the mandrel reaches station 13 the loose ends of the insulating strips are ready to be pasted and rolled up at the same time that the various other operations are being performed on other condensers at stations A, C and D.

The sequence of operations can be readily perceived by reference to the diagrams, Figs. 16 to 22, inclusive.

Fig. 16 illustrates condenser a in the course of being rolled at station A and before the foil knives I43 and I44 have severed the foils.

Fig. 17 shows the condition of the condenser strips of condenser a after the foil knives have been operated and the gaps have been formed between the severed foil ends. The mandrel in station A has now stopped rotating and the feed rollers 29I and 292 have been brought together against the strips therebetween.

In Fig. 18 the roll a just wound at station A is shown moving toward station B during the indexing movement. The paper cutting knife I68 and needles I10 have moved back out of the way of the strips being stretched across the new part mandrel moving into station A; the foil gap being the distance between e-j; and the feed rollers MI and 292 are feeding the strips forward.

In Fig. 19 the mandrel just wound has reached station B where the pasting roll I66 is moved into contact with the condenser roll a; needles I10 have spiked the insulating strips, knife I66 has cut the insulating strip, and the half mandrel 38a has snapped into position over the strips across mandrel 38. The paper ends 9 and h overlap the foil ends e and 1 respectively.

Fig. 20 shows the roll a on mandrel 35 rolled up at the same time that the new mandrel 38 ishaving a condenser 12 rolled upon it while the feed rollers 29! and 292 have become inoperative again.

In Fig. 21 the roll a on mandrel 35 has moved down to station C, and the wound roll b on mandrel 39 has moved to station B. The retracting arm 228 has moved into position to retract the half mandrel 35a while a new condenser c on mandrel 31 is being rolled.

Fig. 22 shows the condenser roll a being ejected from the half mandrel 35 in station D by the ejecting arm 235 which has moved into the electing position. At the same time the retracting arm 229 is retracting the half mandrel 3811 from condenser roll 1) in station C; and the roll c on mandrel 31 is being completed at station E: and a new condenser d is being rolled on mandrel 36 at station A.

The high degree of efllciency of the machine is readily apparent. The operation is completely automatic, and. the finished rolls are delivered from the mandrels without the requirement of any manual operation.

The rate of winding the rolls is very rapid, and very little time is lost between successive windings because the stopping of the winding mandrel rotation is followed practically instantaneously by the very rapid indexing movement, after which the succeeding winding commencea. Successive windings do not await the many finishing steps of rolling up the flag and pasting it and retacting the pin and ejecting the roll, because all these finishing steps are being performed in the succeeding mandrel stations B, C and D at the time rolls are being wound at station A. Even the very short time of the indexing movement is not wasted because during it the insulating strips are being spiked and severed in making ready for the succeeding'winding.

The machine furthermore delivers substantially perfect condensers because all the condenser strips are automatically maintained in their proper alignment and without any human element creeping in which might tend to misalign the strips and produce defective condensers. The operation of the spiking needle I10, together with the fact that the insulating and foil supply rolls are properly aligned and offset to give the strip alignment shown in Fig. 14, automatically insures the maintenance of the alignment.

Although in the specific embodiment of the machine which has been illustrated and described there are shown specific forms of mechanical parts such as clutches, gears and driving elements, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to the use of these specific forms of parts, but extends to the use of suitable equivalent parts performing the functions disclosed;

For example, the clutch members 44 and 46 need not be of the engaging tooth construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 7, but might be of a well known friction type in which a friction surface or cone on element 46 engages a corresponding friction surface or cone on element 44. Furthermore, if it be desired to have the clutch member 46 always stop at the same position of rotation after each clutch disengagement, member 46 might be provided with a lug which engages whenever the clutch is disengaged, with acorresponding lug fastened to the frame at the position in which it is desired the clutch member 46 shall stop. Again, the foil cutting mechanism need not necessarily be operated by the specific camming elements H4 and H and associated frame shown in Figs. 6 and 7, but instead, a micro switch operating a solenoid might be substituted. Such a micro. switch arrangement would comprise a switch contact mounted on the half-nut 94 and a cooperating switch contact located along the path of travel of the half-nut about where cam I20 is located, and connection of these switch contacts while the half nut is travelling could be arranged to close a circuit from an electrical source through a solenoid so that the solenoid plunger would operate on member I29 (Fig. 10)

.of the foil cutter like arm I21 does, to produce the cutting operation.

Another modification whichmight be made if desired is to cause the strip feed rollers 29l and 292 to engage upon the disengagement of the mandrel driving clutch and then to disengage when the driving clutch engages, so that these feed rollers are engaged only during the indexing movement. Such a modification is illustrated in Fig. 15. In that figure the clutch fork 41 is provided with a cam element 315 adapted to engage a corresponding cam 316 fastened to a lever 311 which is mounted on a shaft 316. Shaft 318 can be journaled in any suitable manner within a bearing 319 attached to the main frame I 0. The opposite end of shaft 318 has attached to it an arm 380 which may have freely mounted at its outer end an anti-friction roller 36! adapted to rest on a bar 392. Bar 382 is attached to the frame member 244 for the lower feed roller 292. In the operation of this modification, when the clutch fork 41 is moved to the clutch disengaging position, its cam 315 moving away from cam 316 allows arm 311 to drop and rotate shaft 316 counterclockwise (with reference to Fig. 15), which lifts the roller 36l allowing bar 362 to be lifted under action of tension spring 383. This moves roller 292 into engaging position against the cooperating roller 29l so that the rollers thus feed the strips during the indexing movement of the indexing head; and when the clutch fork 41 is moved again to the clutch engaging position for the next winding, cam member 315 lifts cam 316, causing the feed roller 292 to disengage again from roller 29 l.

While this invention has been described in connection with a specific embodiment, it is not confined thereto and various modifications may be resorted'to within the scope of the appended claims.

Instead of the latch or trigger finger 200 for holding the mandrels open, a segment of a cam may be employed, the lower end of which is formed as a hinge or latch. The cooperative part mandrel (to the right Fig. 3) has a roller attached to it and as the mandrels are opened at the bottom or third position this part mandrel catches behind the cam latch when in maximum open position. This follows around in the open position being held open by that segment of a cam for about fifty degrees. For the next thirtynine degrees the part mandrel slowly closes until the tips of the two cooperative part mandrels are in line with each other. This modified latching means avoids any heavy shock from long quick travel of the cooperative part mandrel, taking place as the head 25 is indexed through two positions.

The pins or needles I10 (Fig. 4) maybe replaced by a felt pad holding the papers after severing and provided with springs for cushioning. This pad engages across the entire web of paper pressing toward the slot in a cutting anvil. A catch may also be added to hold the frame 244 (Fig. 5) tilted and thus hold the feed rollers 29!, 292 open until the driving clutch is entirely disengaged and hits its stop. This prevents these rollers from closing until the winding has stopped and avoids breakage of the paper. The clutch stop is assembled with a shoulder shaft and spring acting as a cushioner and also as a trip mechanism for the catch.

Separate motors may be used on the indexing and winding mechanisms, and the rate of winding may be varied for instance by the travel of the hall! nut 84 (Fig. 7). An insulated contact on this nut making contact to a commutator. The first position of this commutator is connected on series with a rheostat, the second runs the whole length of the worm I, and the third position is adjustable for the whole length 01 the worm and when adjusted, cuts out some of the second position. This third position is a metal piece insulated from the second position and slidably mounted so that the contactor will make contact with this third position through the last part of the winding. This gives an accelerated speed in the beginning oi' the winding, a predetermined speed in the middle and a decelerated speed at the end of the winding.

This application is a, continuation-in-part of my co-pending application Serial No. 375,584, filed January 23, 1941, now abandoned.

I claim:

1. In a condenser winding machine, a mandrel support having journaled in it a part-mandrel, a drive for rotating said part-mandrel, a second part-mandrel adapted to engage with the first mentioned part-mandrel to hold and roll on said engaging part-mandrels a condenser when said first-mentioned part-mandrel is placed in cooperating relation with said drive, a disengaging device i'or disengaging the part-mandrels from each other, and an ejecting device for moving the rolled condenser of! the part-mandrel on which it is held, said support being movable to set the partmandrels successively in successive stations, in the first of which the part-mandrels are set in cooperative relation with said drive, and in another of which the second part-mandrel is set in cooperative relation with said disengaging device, and in another of which said condenseris set in cooperative relation with said ejecting device.

2. In a machine for winding condenser rolls a mandrel support having journaled in it a plurality of mandrels in diil'erent stations, a mandrel pin for cooperating with each of the mandrels to hold in the strips of insulating and conducting material to be rolled on the mandrel, a drive for rotating said mandrels at the first station, cutting means for severing the conducting strips at a position which has not yet reached the mandrel so that a space opens up between the severed conducting strip ends, a second cutting means located within operating range of the path which said mandrels take in moving from the first to a second station for severing the insulating strips trailing from the mandrel which has been wound in the first station, a drive for completing the winding oi the trailing ends on the roll on the mandrel at said second station, a retracting lever for retracting the pins at a third station, a catch for latching the pins in their retracted state, an ejecting lever for ejecting the wound rolls from the mandrel at a fourth station, a release for releasing the catch at the first station, and means for urging each pin into engagement with its mandrel after its catch is released, said mandrel support'being movable to move all the mandrels successively from the first to the second, to the third and to the fourth stations and subseauently to the first station again. I

3. In a machine for winding condenser rolls, a mandrel support having journaled in it a plurality of part-mandrels, a drive for rotating said partmandrels, said support being rotatable to move each part-mandrel to successive stations including a station in operating relation with said drive, a cooperating part-mandrel in cooperating relation with each of the first mentioned part-mandrels, a holder mounted on the rotatable support for holding each of said cooperating part-mandrels so that it may move into engagement with its related one of said first mentioned partmandrels at the drive station, a disengaging arm operative in a mandrel station subsequent to the drive station to disengage the cooperating partmandrel from its related journaled part-mandrel, and an ejecting arm o erative to move the condenser roll endwise oil the part-mandrel on which it is held.

a. Apparatus according to claim 3 in which there is provided means for exerting a tendency for the cooperating part-mandrels to move into engagement with their corresponding journaled part-mandrels, a latch for latching each cooperating part-mandrel in its disengaged position after it is moved out of engagement by said disengaging arm, and a release operated to release each latch when its corresponding part-mandrel reaches the drive station.

5. In a winding machine, a mandrel support having journaled in it a plurality of mandrels, mandrel pins for cooperating with the mandrels, a drive for said mandrels, said support being movable to a number of stations in one of which the mandrels are successively moved into operating relation with said drive, a clutch for connecting the drive with a source of power, an operating arm for engaging and disengaging said clutch from the power source and an indexing drive operatively connected with a power source upon the disengagement of said clutch to move the mandrel support to the next station, a lever operated by the indexing drive after said next station is reached, to move said operating arm to engage the clutch again, a discngageable arm operable at a mandrel station subsequent to that in which the mandrel is in cooperating relation with said drive to disengage the mandrel pin from the mandrel and an ejecting device located in ejecting relation with the wound condenser rolls in a. position subsequent to that in which they are in cooperating relation with said drive, said ejecting device being operated to eject the roll from the mandrel while another roll is being wound at the drive station.

6. In a winding machine, a mandrel support having journaled in it a plurality of part-mandrels, a drive for said part-mandrels, said support being rotatable to move each part-mandrel to successive stations including a station in operating relation with said drive, a clutch for connecting the drive with a source of power, an operating arm for engaging and disengaging said clutch from the power source, an indexing drive operatively connected with a power source upon the disengagement of said clutch to rotate the mandrel support to the next station, a cooperating part-mandrel in cooperating relation with each journaled part-mandrel, each of said cooperating part-mandrels being held on a holder mounted on the rotatable support so that the cooperating part-mandrel may disengage from its related 

